Chapter – 02
Shia had grown unbearably arrogant with Gerard and Josephine backing her. Out of nowhere, she was now demanding to use the greenhouse.
It was a place Anais held dear.
Rebuilding it from nothing but ruins, Anais had succeeded in cultivating wild medicinal herbs there. Thanks to that, the entire fief had been spared from starvation.
Yet Shia was throwing a tantrum to clear out a place like that just to plant flowers.
To the Valdif territory, that greenhouse was sacred ground. And she wanted to plant flowers in it? To make matters worse, flowers that were the national emblem of her own enemy kingdom.
It was utterly absurd.
‘Perhaps she’s doing this on purpose.’
Yet Gerard committed that exact absurdity. He mobilized soldiers to drag out all the tools and herb specimens that filled the greenhouse.
The head maid had deliberately locked herself away because she couldn’t bear to watch, but they had dragged her out anyway. This was Josephine’s warning: the person the Valdif family had to obey was Shia, not Anais.
Swallowing her tears, the head maid headed toward the greenhouse.
Just then, Anais, who had been out, returned to the castle. The servants who bumped into her were so startled they looked as if they had seen a ghost.
“Y-Young Mistress—”
They scrambled to hide what they were holding: shovels, soil, and saplings of the national flower of the Lanta Kingdom.
Anais smirked, as if she had already grasped the situation.
“I thought I’d seen every pathetic sight there was to see here. I suppose there’s still more left. How amusing.”
With that, she headed straight for the greenhouse.
Shia, who had been barking orders at the servants, waved her hand when she spotted Anais.
“Oh my, you’re back? I thought you’d left. You have no idea how worried I was.”
She was smiling brightly, but her expression subtly betrayed her disappointment.
Ignoring Shia entirely, Anais commanded the servants:
“Stop.”
The servants darted their eyes back and forth, reading the room in panic.
Shia was the rising power. Yet they couldn’t simply ignore Anais, the very person who had built this fief with her own hands.
As they hesitated, Shia stepped forward.
“Why are you acting so vicious over planting a few flowers in a greenhouse? Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”
Shia opened her layered lace fan to cover her mouth.
“How precious. Playing the wicked first wife just because of your title.”
Though she pretended to whisper to herself, everyone heard it clearly.
It was meant to turn her stomach, but Anais didn’t even bat an eye. It wasn’t an act; she genuinely seemed unbothered.
“The greenhouse is sacred ground.”
“What?”
Shia burst into laughter as if she had just heard an absurd joke.
“There’s a limit to stubbornness. A place like this, sacred? The more you insist, the more ridiculous you look.”
The expressions of the servants gradually hardened.
That was the place that had saved them from dire poverty. Planting the enemy nation’s flower in a site that was literally a sanctuary to them?
It was no wonder that even Josephine and Tonya had opposed it.
It wasn’t that they were taking Anais’s side. It was simply because this greenhouse was the greatest, invaluable asset of the Valdif territory.
However, Shia hadn’t given up.
She had appealed to Gerard with tearful eyes.
‘I think I’m homesick. I thought I’d feel better if I could just see my kingdom’s national flower, but Mother says I can’t.’
From the day after her arrival at Valdif, she had shamelessly called Josephine ‘Mother.’
‘Her sister glares at me, and the servants only care about Anais’s mood. There’s no place for Shia in this house.’
And that had ultimately led to this mess.
Just then, a deep voice rang out from behind.
“What is going on here?”
It was Gerard. Shia changed her expression faster than a trained actor.
“Jerome.”
Before anyone noticed, she was dabbing at the corners of her reddened eyes with a handkerchief. Gerard cast a brief glance at Anais before walking up to Shia.
The servants swallowed their sighs.
‘How could he have changed so much?’
Just three years ago, Anais was the only person who existed in Gerard’s eyes. He had been willing to lie just to marry her.
Who would marry off their daughter to a man going off to war right after the wedding? So Gerard had hidden that fact until the very day of the ceremony.
Naturally, Anais’s parents were furious. What was even more shocking was that Anais herself had been completely in the dark.
In the end, it was only because she was sweet-natured enough to understand everything and soothe her parents that they managed to become husband and wife.
How could a man change like this?
As if Anais were invisible, he walked right past her.
“Shia, what troubles you?”
The sharp look in his eyes instantly softened. He was so gentle that sweetness practically dripped from his tone.
“It’s nothing. It’s just because I’m lacking…”
Though she started like that, Shia babbled on, reporting every detail. The gaze Gerard turned toward Anais was once again razor-sharp.
“By what right are you stopping her?”
He looked fierce enough to draw his sword, yet Anais didn’t so much as blink.
“I didn’t stop anyone.”
The servants thought nothing could surprise them anymore, but they were wrong.
The Young Mistress, who had never treated even lower-status people disrespectfully, was speaking casually—and to her husband, who was now a Count.
“That’s not what Shia tells me. It doesn’t matter who is telling the truth. What matters is that you made my woman shed tears.”
“’My woman,’ is it…”
A sneer formed at the corners of Anais’s lips.
“The greenhouse is sacred ground. That is what I said. Because it’s the only place bringing in money for Valdif. And you want to plant the flower of a ruined kingdom there?”
“You’re exaggerating. It’s not as if that’s the only place you can grow mere weeds.”
“There’s a limit to foolishness. How can you treat the most important place in the territory so carelessly?”
“The flower of the Lanta Kingdom is not foolish!” Shia shouted like a pouting child, but the response she received was cold and merciless.
“You can’t eat it. You can’t sell it. Then yes, it’s useless.”
“Stop insulting the Lanta Kingdom!”
“Is that really something a princess of a fallen kingdom—who is carrying the child of an enemy leader—should be saying?”
Shia was rendered speechless, and the servants’ jaws dropped so wide they looked ready to fall off entirely.
Gerard’s face crumpled in anger as he spoke.
“I won’t listen to another word!”
“I have no desire to speak further either, so this works out well for both of us.”
Anais shrugged her shoulders and turned around.
Her steps were straight and dignified, her expression ice-cold.
Enraged, Gerard tried to call her back, but Shia stopped him.
“Jerome, let her go. Shia just needs to plant her flowers in the greenhouse.”
She snuggled into Gerard’s chest. Rubbing her face against his broad chest, she carefully erased the look of sheer amusement she couldn’t contain.
The next day, I had traveled quite a distance.
‘Safety is the most important part of a farewell.’
I had sent word to my family home in advance, but there was no reply.
‘Is it because it’s too far?’
Or perhaps they still haven’t forgiven me.
After the marriage, the relationship between my parents and me had grown very distant.
I hadn’t contacted them, waiting until I could visit them living a good life, and my parents, perhaps feeling hurt by that, gradually cut off contact as well.
‘And yet, the first news I send after three years is a divorce.’
If I were in their shoes, I would have been dumbfounded too.
I understood, but I couldn’t afford to wait any longer. So, I decided to hire mercenaries.
When I stepped into the Mercenary Guild, the manager greeted me with a bright smile.
“Welcome.”
He gave a refreshing smile, lifting the corners of his mouth where a sword scar ran across. I smiled back.
“I need a personal guard.”
“God must be with you, my Lady. As it happens, a very capable mercenary group is waiting for work.”
I followed him further inside the building.
Inside, mercenaries were gathered in small groups, chatting boisterously.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll call the mercenary group I recommended. Ah, of course, you may choose someone here yourself if you prefer.”
At the manager’s gesture, an errand boy scampered off quickly.
My father, Baron Serge de Laville, was a veteran of a hundred battles. Memories of what I had learned over his shoulder as a child surfaced.
‘There are fools who treasure their swords while neglecting their scabbards. And those who walk around with dried blood or strands of hair stuck to their weapons just to show off? Never associate with men like that.’
I had passed through a second life and was now living my third, yet my father’s voice remained vivid in my mind as I observed the mercenaries.
“Ah… Ah…”
A sound that barely sounded human echoed out.
It came from the innermost area, covered by a curtain. Seeing my interest, the manager quickly explained.
“There are occasionally those who breach their contracts or cause trouble.”
He meant it was a private prison run by the guild. They needed a place to lock up criminals with bounties on their heads or mercenaries who caused incidents.
I slighted my brows in a frown.
“The voice sounds far too young?”
To lock up a young child—I couldn’t simply overlook it. When I asked to see, the manager furrowed his brow.
“They are quite vicious, so I worry you might get hurt, Lady. Please do not go anywhere near them.”
As I nodded at his caution, the curtain was drawn back.
A small, slender figure stood holding onto the iron bars.
“Young… Lady?”
When the boy muttered while looking at the manager, the manager snapped in anger.
“Why do you keep calling me Young Lady!”
The boy’s face crumpled fiercely as he growled at the manager.
Though he looked filthy and severely emaciated, the glint in his eyes was intensely sharp.
